"Are you coming to the office today?" he asks as he massages shampoo into my hair.
"For a little while. I promised Liberty I'd have lunch with her."
He kisses me on my shoulder before tipping my head back to rinse the shampoo away. "The boys will like that. They love getting to play with Spencer and Toby."
He's right. Our three boys adore spending time with Liberty's boys. She met the love of her life not long after Dominic and I married. She still works for Dominic, but she spends most of her time working from her husband's office now. She only comes in a couple days a week.
I try to make a point to be there when she is so the boys can play while we work. Not that I seem to get much done when I'm there. Dominic has a way of keeping me busy with other things. Like cuddling on his lap after he makes love to me in his office. Or wrangling the boys when they get tired of playing at the daycare that now shares office space with Alessi Technology Inc. Or catching up with everyone else on staff.
I still keep Dominic's office in order, because he refuses to let anyone else do it, but I only work a couple days a week now. I stopped working full-time when Deacon, our oldest was born four years ago. I have a more important job now; one I wouldn't trade for anything. I keep Dominic's life in order, keep our boys in order. It's the best of both worlds, what I dreamed about for so long.
Sometimes, I think my life is a fairytale. Dominic kissed me and the whole world changed. I wouldn't change a single thing about it. Except maybe to have told him sooner how I feel about him. Those feelings have only grown in the years since. I have a suspicion they always will.
"You're awful quiet today, sunshine," he murmurs, shuffling me to the side so he can rinse the shampoo out of his hair.
"I'm just thinking."
"About what?" he asks, pulling me back into his arms once he's finished.
"About you and how much I love you."
His eyes light up with happiness again. He cuddles me close to his chest, holding me as the warm water beats down on us. "I love you too, sweet girl."
I know he does. The bottle of whiskey his grandma left him is almost empty. He never drinks it alone though. And never in a glass. He licks it off my body when he's happiest, which makes me happiest. I'm not sure what his grandma would say about that tradition if she knew, but it's one of my favorites. One I look forward to keeping for the rest of our lives.
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Her Alpha Daddy Next Door
Excerpt
"Don't mention his penis," I coach myself as I walk down the steps, carefully balancing the plate so it doesn't crash to the ground. The bannister railing is loose, so I walk slow to make sure I don't end up breaking my neck. Wouldn't that be an awful way to die? Trying to deliver cookies to the hot detective downstairs. He'd probably be really grumpy then.
His blinds are all drawn tight and his front door is closed.
I stand outside it for a long moment, trying to work up the nerve to knock.
"Stop stalling and do it already."
"Do what?"
I scream as his deep, sexy voice sounds behind me. My arms go up, the plate of cookies flying into the air. I watch in stunned horror as gravity immediately takes hold of the plate and sends it plummeting toward the cement.
Surprisingly, the plate never hits the ground and neither do any of the cookies. Officer Grumpy grabs the plate out of midair. The cellophane holds, keeping the cookies safely on the platter…probably because I wrapped half a box around the thing. It's not my fault. There is no taming cellophane. It's a design flaw, I swear.
"Holy shit," I whisper, blinking at Officer Grumpy. "You're like Batman. A really hot, really grumpy Batman."
Officer Grumpy throws his head back and laughs loudly.
I feel my cheeks heat with embarrassment. Why don't words ever stay in my head where they're supposed to stay? It's not really fair that they just come tumbling out without my permission.
"These for me, sweetness?" he asks, cocking a brow at me. Even in clothes, he's hot.
"Yes. Here." I shove the note at him, practically hitting him in the chest in the process.
He catches my wrist in his free hand, sending sparks shooting up and down my arm. I expect him to let me go once he keeps me from accidentally punching him, but instead, he just holds onto me. I tip my head way back to look up at him.
"Jesus," he mutters, staring at me like he can't figure out what to do with me. "You really are tiny, aren't you? Like a little fairy princess."